Study: Dollar General Store would have little effect

Commissioners to view report, vote on rezoning

Published: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 at 6:28 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 at 6:28 a.m.

A traffic impact study that county commissioners ordered for a proposed Dollar General store in Horse Shoe is complete. The report says the store would have minimal impact, other than adding to morning rushhour backups near the Banner Farm Road intersection.

Last month, commissioners delayed a rezoning request to allow a 9,100-square-foot Dollar General next to Horse Shoe Baptist Church until developers submitted a traffic impact study. The board will again consider the rezoning at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Historic Courthouse.

The study submitted to the county and state highway officials by J.M. Teague Engineering of Waynesville says that at full build-out, the Dollar General would “only minimally” increase traffic delays, volumes and backups at the store’s entrance and the nearby Banner Farm intersection.

However, some residents question the study’s validity. Fred Diehn, who lives next to the proposed retail site, said traffic consultants parked at the church and counted cars for just two hours on April 10, from 9 to 10 a.m. and from 5 to 6 p.m.

“On a Wednesday, so it wasn’t even a busy weekend,” Diehn said. “This is totally slanted towards development, against the wishes of residents.”

Commissioner Grady Hawkins, whose undergraduate degree is in mathematics, said Monday he also wonders about the value of one day’s worth of traffic counts.

“They made one sampling and generated 51 pages of data from that,” Hawkins said. “Statistically, I don’t know how valid that is.”

Despite safety concerns voiced by residents and church leaders, the J.M. Teague study found only one crash occurred near the proposed store entrance from March 2003 to February 2013, which the engineers called “likely an anomaly” that “does not represent any particular crash pattern.”

Engineers found eastbound traffic on U.S. Highway 64 at the Banner Farm signal might back up past the Dollar General entrance during morning rush hour, blocking store visitors from turning into its parking lot and stopping westbound traffic in the intersection.

Creeping traffic could decrease the gaps between cars such that drivers attempting to pull out into traffic “may be inclined to enter Highway 64, even when not safe,” the study said. However, engineers said traffic backups could be alleviated by changing the timing of the Banner Farm traffic light to optimize movement.

In a letter to the county’s planning office, the N.C. Department of Transportation agreed with the engineers’ report but asked J.M. Teague to report back its recommendations for optimizing timing of the Banner Farm traffic light.

The DOT will also require store developers to reimburse the state for clearing vegetation within the right-of-way to provide better “sight distance” to the west of the store’s proposed entrance. The standard formula for safe viewing is 10 feet for every mile per hour the speed limit is, said NCDOT district engineer Steve Cannon.

“If it’s posted at 45 (miles per hour), we need to be able to see 450 feet,” Cannon said.

<p>A traffic impact study that county commissioners ordered for a proposed Dollar General store in Horse Shoe is complete. The report says the store would have minimal impact, other than adding to morning rushhour backups near the Banner Farm Road intersection.</p><p>Last month, commissioners delayed a rezoning request to allow a 9,100-square-foot Dollar General next to Horse Shoe Baptist Church until developers submitted a traffic impact study. The board will again consider the rezoning at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Historic Courthouse.</p><p>The study submitted to the county and state highway officials by J.M. Teague Engineering of Waynesville says that at full build-out, the Dollar General would “only minimally” increase traffic delays, volumes and backups at the store's entrance and the nearby Banner Farm intersection.</p><p>However, some residents question the study's validity. Fred Diehn, who lives next to the proposed retail site, said traffic consultants parked at the church and counted cars for just two hours on April 10, from 9 to 10 a.m. and from 5 to 6 p.m.</p><p>“On a Wednesday, so it wasn't even a busy weekend,” Diehn said. “This is totally slanted towards development, against the wishes of residents.”</p><p>Commissioner Grady Hawkins, whose undergraduate degree is in mathematics, said Monday he also wonders about the value of one day's worth of traffic counts.</p><p>“They made one sampling and generated 51 pages of data from that,” Hawkins said. “Statistically, I don't know how valid that is.”</p><p>Despite safety concerns voiced by residents and church leaders, the J.M. Teague study found only one crash occurred near the proposed store entrance from March 2003 to February 2013, which the engineers called “likely an anomaly” that “does not represent any particular crash pattern.”</p><p>Engineers found eastbound traffic on U.S. Highway 64 at the Banner Farm signal might back up past the Dollar General entrance during morning rush hour, blocking store visitors from turning into its parking lot and stopping westbound traffic in the intersection. </p><p>Creeping traffic could decrease the gaps between cars such that drivers attempting to pull out into traffic “may be inclined to enter Highway 64, even when not safe,” the study said. However, engineers said traffic backups could be alleviated by changing the timing of the Banner Farm traffic light to optimize movement. </p><p>In a letter to the county's planning office, the N.C. Department of Transportation agreed with the engineers' report but asked J.M. Teague to report back its recommendations for optimizing timing of the Banner Farm traffic light. </p><p>The DOT will also require store developers to reimburse the state for clearing vegetation within the right-of-way to provide better “sight distance” to the west of the store's proposed entrance. The standard formula for safe viewing is 10 feet for every mile per hour the speed limit is, said NCDOT district engineer Steve Cannon. </p><p>“If it's posted at 45 (miles per hour), we need to be able to see 450 feet,” Cannon said. </p><p>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.</p>